Sing Sweet Nightingale
by GraceTheGraceless
Summary: Robin, boy wonder and son of Batman, returns to the mountain after two days of bed-rest, sick with the flu. Wally, Roy, and the rest of the team do their best to protect him and keep him happy, even going as far as a nightingale's song and an old circus elephant. If stuffed animals and lullabies are what the poor boy needs, then who is Roy to say no?


Training over the past two days had been less than asterous for Young Justice, mainly because they were without their precious baby bird.

Robin, who had been absent from both the team and his other life concerning school, had been fighting off influenza for the past 2 days. Two days that he wished he could have spent fighting criminals and saving innocent people. Two days in which he should have been studying, hunched over his desk with a physics textbook and pleasure reading on the effect music has on the brain.

Only know he felt as though the words were floating off their respective pages, dancing on his blurry vision as the world spun with bright slates of light peeking out from his window shades.

Sighing, Dick closed his book and placed it on the nightstand, refusing to relax into the pillows Alfred had piled up behind him. He was just so bored. His vision kept swimming and jumbling up everything around him, making his head pound angrily.

He imagines the other members of the team laughing and chatting, sharing stories around a batch of Miss M's new snickerdoodle recipe. His stomach churned at the thought of food; an empty pit just wanting to be left alone before having to supply energy for part of Gotham's Dynamic Duo.

Flailing his arms and legs about until he'd successfully ridden himself of the covers previously piled atop his tiny form, Dick stood up, shaking a stumbling as he made his way over to his dresser to pull a gray hoodie over his white t-shirt. He was done being sick. Finished being stuck in bed under a pile of pillows and blankets with nobody there to really watch him, aside from Alfred, who came by every couple of hours. Dick grabbed a box of tissues and waddled out to the batcave, for once pleased that Bruce wasn't suited up and down at the computer system in the cave.

He would just zetabeam to the mountain and train for a while with the team. Then, he'd zetabeam back and go to bed before Alfred could call Bruce to go get him. It was genius! Or at least it seemed genius to Dick, who's head was too fuzzy to clearly process his current actions. All Dick really knew was that he was sick and tired of laying in bed all day, bored and alone.

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><p><em>"Robin, B01" <em>

Kid Flash turned his head up from the near-empty bag of chips he had been eating at the announcement of his best friend.

"Rob!" He raced over, excited to see his best friend up and back in action. Until he saw his face. Pale, red-cheeked, and sweaty, Robin looked ready to drop dead.

"Uh...Robby? You okay? You look...kinda bad." Robin shuffled his feet to avoid crashing right into Wally. "Yeah. Never felt better." he lied right through his teeth, pulling the bottom of his sweatshirt.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Kaldur asked, setting down his Harry Potter book in favor of the well-being of the team's youngest member (setting aside Superboy being less than a year old in technicality). "You weren't gone very long and do not appear to have fully recovered from your illness."

Robin sighed; he was getting tired of this. He was perfectly capable of deciding whether or not he was okay, and he totally was! "Look, Kaldur, Wally, I'm fine." The two stared at him with unfazed eyes.

"Hello everyone!" M'gnn's cheerful voice came calling. _'Thank you M'gnn.'_ Robin thought. _'Excellent timing.'_

"Oh Robin, you're back! Are you feeling better?"

"Much better," he said, trying his best to stand tall and proud, despite the pain radiating through his muscles. He had to prove himself. He just had to. "In fact I was just telling these two," he gestured to Wally and Kaldur, "just how fine I am!"

Then he coughed. He coughed wetly into his elbow, so much so regretting life itself. His body just had to go and prove their point, didn't it?

Clearing his throat, Robin spoke up again, ignoring M'gnn's new questions on his health. "I'm fine!" As if to prove his own point, Robin staggered off to the training room, only to be stopped by Artemis.

"Oh no you don't, Bird Boy." She blocked his path, ushering him back into the living room. "I can feel the heat coming off you, Robin. You're still sick." He hated the way she could be both a mother and an older sister to him. The way she was caring and gentle, always seeming to watch out for her "little brother", yet demanding and strict, never allowing him to get hurt.

"I'm not sick." He tried again, voice cracking a little. She pushed him down onto the couch. Superboy, now entering the room from God know's where, interjected.

"Robin, you're sick." he said. "I'm not sick!"

Conner quickly cornered Robin against the edge of the couch, pressing a hand to his forehead, and frowning at not only the heat coming off the young hero, but the way that Robin sighed and leaned into Superboy's cool touch. Even if 2 seconds later Robin was swatting away his hand. "I'm getting the thermometer," He declared, getting up from the couch.

Robin tried to grab his hand and pull him back down, but missed by a split second. "Please don't," he asked, halfhearted and sarcastic. He pouted like a child when the clone coaxed the metal device under his tongue after much protest.

"102.7" Superboy read aloud.

"Dude, that's a high fever," Wally said, inching closer to his best bud in hopes of getting him to sleep, or at least admit he was sick. "The thermometer must be broken." Robin said, not even bothering to smirk.

"You know it's not, Rob. So come on, let's get you to bed." Wally reached out to guide Dick to his bedroom, but the little bird shot off the couch and tried to run away. Key word: tried. He did, of course, fail, legs giving out underneath his body as the world spun and he fell.

"Robin!" Wally sped forward to catch him, Kaldur following quickly behind. Being held up by his left arm (courtesy of Kid Flash himself), Robin panted as he regained composure. "I-I'm okay..." he said, still breathing hard. "Like hell you are." Wally muttered under his breath.

"Robin, my friend, you should rest," Kaldur said, inching closer, eyeing the poor boy as he struggled to stand fully upright.

"Conner go get some blankets," Artemis said, starting to lose her patience as Robin protested yet again. "Honestly, guys, I'm fine! I just got a little dizzy is all..."

"Robin if you don't get in that couch in 5 seconds you'll be so dizzy you won't know what hit you!" Artemis shouted, pointing to the couch. "Just admit you're sick so we can help you!" Finally, Robin let his eyes droop down and he crumbled to the floor, the others crowding around him almost instantly. "Okay maybe I don't feel so asterous..." he moaned.

Wally bent down to pick him up, the raven-haired boy simply sticking out his arms and giving up. The ginger boy kept Robin close, frowning at his temperature.

"Wally..." He moaned, burrowing his head in KF's shoulder.

"Yeah, Robin?" He asked softly, petting Robin's soft ebony hair.

"My head hurts." He groaned, squinting at the light from under his mask.

"I know Rob, just hold on okay?" Wally looked up at Artemis, who, in turn, ran off to get a bottle of Advil. "It's okay, Rob. It's okay." Kid Flash continued to stroke Robin's hair, muttering soothing words until Artemis came back with Advil and a glass of water, with Superboy (carrying 7 blankets) in toe.

Tucking Robin into a cocoon of comforters, Wally picked up the glass and two Advil tablets. "Can you swallow these?" Wally asked softly. Dick simply nodded, popping the pills in his mouth and washing them down with the water. Then he pushed the blankets around until only his head was visible, flushed and red-cheeked as it was, with black hair sticking up in every direction.

Once he was asleep, Wally moved from the couch and reached for his cellphone. "Who are you gonna call? Everyone's off-planet now." Artemis asked. Wally didn't answer, and proceeded to use his speed-dial.

"Hey Roy. Yes. Yes I have a reason for calling! Rob's sick. Yea-no, no Roy don't hang up yet I need you to pick something up for me. Ask Alf-eer-Agent A for Peanut. Yes Roy, he is so sick that he needs Peanut. Uh... . 7! 102.7 degrees. Okay see you later Roy. Thanks." He shut his cellphone and turned back to the others, who were hovering around their little bird.

Robin fell asleep sitting under the blankets, and his head was tilted upward to the left, lips puffed up and bright red slightly parted as his nose was too stuffed up for him to breathe. "Should his lips be so...big?" M'gnn asked, wondering if Robin had some sort of disease instead of the flu. "Yeah." Wally replied. "His lips always get all big and red when he's sick." He chuckled, thinking about when they were younger.

Roy would babysit the two of them when Bruce, Ollie, and Barry went off-planet. Once, Dick got the flu and refused to admit it so they could all play together, and he collapsed at the park. That little acrobat was always _so_ stubborn.

Kaldur sighed. "Why did he not just stay home?" If Robin had been so sick, he surely knew that staying in bed at home was best. "He missed us." Superboy replied, as if he could read Dick's mind. "It surely must have been hard to stay behind. Robin enjoys training more than anything else."

Anyone could see how much training meant to Robin, the way he could flip and spin and kick all he wanted, free of consequence. But cooped up in bed...that was a different story.

The team was drawn from their thoughts when Robin sneezed, quite loudly, in his sleep, snot starting to dribble from his cherry-red nose. Without another thought, Superboy pulled a tissue from the box and wiped the Boy Wonder's nose, trying not to wake him. "Poor Robin…" M'gnn muttered, stroking his sweat-soaked hair.

_"Speedy, B06." _

"It's Red Arrow!" Roy spat at the machine, then abandoning his new name in favor of Robin. "How is he?" Roy asked Wally, gently placing a hand on the boy's forehead.

"Not too good, Roy. He has a pretty high fever and-" The speedster was cut off when Robin moaned, baby blue eyes opening behind his mask. "Roy?" he rasped out.

"Hey little bird," Roy teased, petting Robin's soft, charcoal-black hair. "Wally called me; he said you were sick. Why did you leave the manor?"

Dick shirted on the couch, coughing into the blankets. "It was so boring...and I missed training." Roy smiled softly, reaching into a tote bag Alfred had given him. "I brought you something." Roy pulled out a tattered, old stuffed animal and placed it in Dick's arms.

"Peanut!" He smiled, hugging the elephant close to his chest. "Thank you Roy…" The boy wonder whispered, already falling back asleep. Roy gently shook him out of his dreamy haze. "Not yet." The older boy took the thermometer off of the table and placed it under Dick's tongue, pressing the button at the device's end. "101.4." He announced. "A little better," Conner said blankly. "But still high."

Wally zipped into the bathroom and returned to the couch with a damp rag. he removed Dick's mask, placing and cloth over it just right, leaving no room for the others to see his face without it. "Go to sleep, baby bro." he muttered, planting a small kiss on Robin's forehead.

"Stay?" Robin asked, voice cracking painfully. Wally simply got under the covers and wrapped an arm around the acrobat, who sighed and leaned into Wally's cool skin. "Roy too?"

"Roy too." the archer replied, repeating Wally's actions.

"L-lullaby?" Robin asked again, voice barely audible. Roy inhaled and began to hum, lips parted ever-so slightly.

_"Oh sing sweet nightingale, sing sweet nightingale, hi~igh above me…"_

The team simply smiled, each either kissing Robin's still-warm forehead, or gently patting his head, smoothing out his sweaty hair, each listening as Roy's strong yet soft voice carried out to old song.

No matter what anybody said or thought, their sweet little bird was too precious to lose, and they would always, always be there to protect him.

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><p><strong>Jesus I suck at endings...<strong>

**But hey! I got something somewhat decent done! It's been a while, huh? Maybe a little too long, but I can never seem to find good ideas! Plus my beta and I no longer work together (still friends though!) so Ruby in the Rough is getting a little...harder for me to write. I just get all sad and think about how the story isn't going anywhere. **

***sigh* Oh well. I'll (hopefully) be back soon with more stories!**

**'Till we meet again, Cuties! **

**~GraceTheGraceless**


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